Of course you should always be prepared to fight with everything/anything you’ve got, even if it is only tooth and nails… but why would you intentionally leave yourself so limited and vulnerable?

First, there isn’t a word in the article about situational awareness, or any of the other important parts of avoiding confrontation and attack! The scene presented here is of two assailants approaching you in a dark parking lot. You are alone and one of the probable attackers has a knife.

So, the advice is that you prepare (ahead of time, thank goodness) to use your keys, a pen, a credit card… to inflict as much damage as possible on the attacker. On the guy with a knife? Yeah sure, that will work out wonderfully. The knife is longer than the keys or credit card, remember, and MUCH sharper. Any knife is an effective weapon that can inflict a great deal of serious damage to your body very quickly. Do you really want to get close enough to the knife to have any chance in hell to use the keys or anything like them, even if you could possibly use them effectively? The guy with the knife isn’t going to stand there and LET you poke him in the eye with a pen.

The assumption in the article is clear. You are in a big city and totally unarmed with anything rationally useful with which to defend yourself. Guns are not even mentioned, even in the hands of the aggressors. I think that’s a very dangerous assumption to make. YOU may not want to carry a gun if it is “illegal,” but you can be very sure that the attackers have no such scruples. They don’t care about the law, remember. They are willing to injure or kill you to take what they want from you. Sometimes what they want is your death. Are you willing to trust that they don’t?

So, what would be better advice for the person coming out of work late, into a dark parking lot in the city?

First, don’t be that person. Don’t be there. Yes, I know that’s not possible for a lot of people, but it is the obvious first answer. Think long and hard about why you would put yourself into that position; why you are living in a big city to start with, especially one where you are reduced to such pitiful attempts to save your own life or those you love.

We are hearing more and more about attacks against large groups of people using various weapons, including cars and trucks – and that’s a very different thing than a thug or two in a dark parking lot. Self defense in those cases is almost always limited to simply not BEING there to start with.

But that’s a discussion for another time.

OK, so you can’t move and have to work in a city where you are not “allowed” to have any rational self defense weapon. Why would you come out into a dark parking lot, garage or street ALONE? Make a deal with other employees, security guards, a spouse or a friend to be there to walk out with you. The criminals want easy, weak and preferably frightened victims, so they are unlikely to confront you if you are not alone. I can only imagine the terror of being alone somewhere actual self defense is “against the law.” Why would you put yourself into that situation?

Next, as you and your companions exit the building, put your heads on a swivel and scan your surroundings. (Read it, and do some serious practice. This is vital!)You don’t need to become paranoid with this, but you certainly don’t want to allow idle conversation, iPhones or anything else to distract you from actually seeing what is going on around you. If the criminals lurking in the nearby ally see you and those with you as being alert, unafraid and aware of the surroundings, they will most likely slink away to find a more vulnerable victim.

But don’t be complacent in other situations, where you think there “is no real crime.” There is no place on earth where the risk of attack of some sort is zero. Life is dangerous, and though the absolute numbers of people evil enough to attack you may be small, even in the big city, it is not zero other places. And the evil ones can be anywhere. So the rational response is to understand that, prepare the best you can to avoid them, and to confront them if necessary with the best tools possible so that you can continue your life as much as possible undamaged.

Avoid confrontation, stay away from dangerous people and environments when possible. Develop a solid survival attitude, be willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive . Don’t go out into the dark alone. Buy a gun and learn how to use it well, along with everything else necessary for rational self defense. The gun is not magic, and will not help if you think that’s all you need. But it is a very important, valuable tool for those who have the right attitude and training. It’s up to you.

I had to shoot a man to save my life once. You can read about it, and then send for the book I wrote on it. “I Am NOT A Victim” will be sent to anyone who requests it in email. Contact information is at the bottom of the page linked above. And then, you might be interested to learn just why I carry a gun… everywhere, and all the time. Read about that here.

Think about it. Are you actually willing to trust your life to a set of keys or a ball point pen?

2 Responses to Fake and Dangerous “Self Defense”

Don’t trust the internet without checking and verifying accuracy – and especially don’t trust a nutrition site (which seems more concerned about selling their books and such than anything else) for information on self-defense. A former SF trooper? I doubt it, or that “Jeremiah Johnson” and his wife and cats live in Western Montana, unless it is in downtown Bozeman or Missoula or Big Sky, with the rest of the “disarm me FIRST” Tranzis. Or maybe (and I’m not mocking him if he is) he has dementia or just has been brainwashed into a truly pathetic state.

There are LOTS of things you have in your home or can find in a store that are far superior to such pitiful “weapons” as credit cards and weights in your purse. Even knitting needles and a good pair of sewing scissors. But there is really NO weapon that is better than a REAL weapon, and for anyone under 5-6 and 150 (and most of us over that), the first weapon, the weapon of choice is a firearm. Not a taser or pepper spray or a set of keys.

But as Mama points out, that requires some essentials: situational awareness and a willingness to take responsibility for your own safety and security, and NOT depend on the state or the good will of people within hearing distance. And the truth is, firearms AND training in self-defense using firearms are more easily available AND less costly (taking inflation into account) than they have been for at least 49 years (the federal firearms law of 1968) and probably closer to 80 years. But it requires responsibility and a tiny bit of initiative to get the weapon, get the training, and develop the skills and habits needed to avoid finding yourself confronted by two knife-wielding thugs in a dark parking lot in some urban cesspit.

Exactly. First a person must decide that their life is worth preserving. Then that they will do what it takes to defend themselves. Both require an honest evaluation of oneself and making some serious, difficult decisions. Only then is one ready to consider how they will go about defending themselves if necessary. The gun and training come along after that. Otherwise, they may well be buying an expensive paperweight. Attitude, integrity, and self responsibility. Then the rest will fall in place.